Clothes dryer vent attachment

ABSTRACT

A clothes dryer vent attachment to be used in conjunction with clothes dryer appliances within limited spacial environments, such as for example, mobile homes, includes an elongate, substantially flat, hollow housing having a width several times greater than the thickness or depth thereof, the housing serving to define the vent shaft which has a volumetric capacity equal to conventional venting attachments. The upper portion of the front surface of the housing is provided with an exhaust air inlet while the upper portion of the rear surface of the housing has associated therewith a baffle which deflects the incoming exhaust air into the vertically disposed shaft. The lower end of the housing shaft is open and adapted to be inserted through the flooring of the abode for exhaust purposes and suitable sealing means may be secured about the periphery of the exhaust air inlet in order to prevent leakage of the hot exhaust air into the living environment.

[ July 1,1975

[ CLOTHES DRYER VENT ATTACHMENT [76] Inventor: Paul Adams, Jr., Hwy. 49 East, P.

O. Box 207, Yazoo, Miss. 39194 122 Filed: Apr. 11, 1974 211 Appl.No.:460,087

[52] US. Cl. 34/235; 34/90; 98/42;

98/DlG. 7; 285/183; 285/363; 285/424 [51 Int. Cl. F261) 19/00 [58] Field of Search 34/235, 90, 91;

62/D1G. 13;98/D1G. 7, 19.42, 115 K, 40 C; 126/312, 293; 220/44 R; 237/28, 46, 47; 285/183, 363, 424

3,466,063 9/1969 Traver .4 285/424 OTHER PUBLICATIONS Acme Mfg. Co., Inc. 7500 State Road, Philadelphia, 36, Pa., Catalog No. 65, page 8, item No. 24 cited. Armstrong Furance Co., Columbus, Ohio, Catalog No. 53-1, page 13, item No. 530 cited.

Primary Examiner-Kenneth W. Sprague Assistant Examinerlames C. Yeung Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Oblon, Fisher, Spivak, McClelland & Maier [57 1 ABSTRACT A clothes dryer vent attachment to be used in conjunction with clothes dryer appliances within limited spacial environments, such as for example. mobile homes, includes an elongate, substantially flat, hollow housing having a width several times greater than the thickness or depth thereof, the housing serving to define the vent shaft which has a volumetric capacity equal to conventional venting attachments. The upper portion of the front surface of the housing is provided with an exhaust air inlet while the upper portion of the rear surface of the housing has associated therewith a baffle which deflects the incoming exhaust air into the vertically disposed shaft. The lower end of the housing shaft is open and adapted to be inserted through the flooring of the abode for exhaust purposes and suitable sealing means may be secured about the periphery of the exhaust air inlet in order to prevent leakage of the hot exhaust air into the living environment.

6 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures CLOTHES DRYER VENT ATTACHMENT.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION l. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to clothes dryer vent apparatus and more particularly to an improved clothes dryer vent attachment which will permit the economization of useable space within limited spacial environments, such as for example, mobile homes.

2. Description of the Prior Art As is well-known and readily appreciated, the amount of useable space available within a mobile home is quite limited when compared with that available within conventional immobile homes. Nevertheless, mobile home residents require and desire the use of many contemporary appliance conveniences and necessities. Accordingly, appliance manufacturers have been quite understanding and accommodating to the wants of such consumers in that they have within recent years produced portable and compact appliances especially designed and adapted for use within limited spacial environments. such as for example, mobile homes.

While such appliances have therefore been specially fabricated, there nevertheless remains a substantial need for suitably configured accessories and attachments to be utilized in conjunction with such appliances. In the instance of clothes dryers for example, commensurate venting apparatus is required.

Conventional venting apparatus commercially available normally include sizable duct work or conduits which rigidly fix and determine the distance that the appliance may be positioned relative to the flue housed within the exterior wall of the edifice, or alternatively, flexible, hose-like conduits which while permitting the appliance to be moved relative to the exterior wall, nevertheless do not permit the same to be moved and positioned substantially close to such wall. As a result, space which would otherwise be useable is lost within the limited environment.

Another concomitant disadvantage of conventional venting apparatus associated with such compact dryer devices is the time and labor required for service personnel to install the same. As the units must be suitably positioned relative to the particular wall within which the vent flue is housed, and in addition, sealed with respect thereto so as to prevent the hot exhaust air from entering the living area in lieu of being conducted exteriorly of the edifice, installation service fees may reasonably be expected to be considerably high.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved clothes dryer vent attachment.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved clothes dryer vent attachment which is relatively simple and economical to manufacture.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved clothes dryer vent attachment which is specifically designed for use with clothes dryer appliances within limited spacial environments, such as for example, mobile homes.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an improved clothes dryer vent attachment which will permit the economization and maximization of useable space within limited spacial environments.

Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide an improved clothes dryer vent attachment which will permit the associate clothes dryer appliance to be positioned relatively flush with any wall of the environment edifice.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved clothes dryer vent attachment which does not require attachment to an exteriorly connected flue.

A yet further object of the present invention is to provide an improved clothes dryer vent attachment which will permit the associate clothes dryer appliance to be positioned relative to an interior or an exterior wall of the environment edifice thereby imparting flexibility to decorating schemes.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved clothes dryer vent attachment which will facilitate installation of the associate appliance.

A still yet further object of the present invention is to provide an improved clothes dryer vent attachment which will substantially reduce installation costs The foregoing objectives are achieved according to the present invention through the provision ofa clothes dryer vent attachment which includes an elongate, substantially flat, hollow housing having a width several times greater than the thickness or depth thereof and the cross-section of which is of rectangular configuration, the housing serving to define the vent shaft having a volumetric capacity equal to conventional venting attachments. The upper portion of the front surface of the shaft housing is provided with an exhaust air inlet aperture the configuration of which corresponds to that of the exhaust air outlet aperture of the dryer appli ance, while the upper portion of the rear surface of the shaft housing has associated therewith a baffle member which is disposed opposite the exhaust air inlet of the housing so as to deflect the incoming exhaust air into the shaft. The attachment is suitably secured to the exterior surface of the rear wall of the appliance so as to be vertically disposed with respect thereto, the lower end of the housing being open and adapted to be inserted through the flooring of the abode for disposing of the hot exhaust air therefrom. Suitable sealing means is secured to the front surface of the attachment in surrounding relationship with respect to the exhaust air inlet so as to be interposed and compressed between the rear wall of the appliance and the front surface of the attachment upon securing the latter to the appliance, leakage of the hot exhaust air into the living environment thereby being prevented.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Various other objects, features, and attendant advantages of the present invention will be more fully appreciated as the same becomes better understood from the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

FIG. I is a perspective view of a clothes dryer vent attachment constructed according to the present inven tion and showing its cooperative parts; and

FIG. 2 is a cross-section view of the vent attachment as illustrated in FIG. 1, taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings. there is shown a clothes dryer vent attachment generally indicated by the reference character which is seen to comprise an elongate, substantially flat, hollow housing 12, the cross-section of which is of rectangular configuration and which may be made of any suitable, conventional sheet metal normally utilized in fabricating air ducts within forced air circulation systems. The upper portion of the front surface 14 is provided with an aperture 16 which serves as an inlet for receiving the hot air cxhausted from the clothes dryer appliance, it being readily appreciated that the size and configuration of aperture 16 corresponds to that of the exhaust air outlet aperture provided within the rear wall of the appliance. Within the present invention, such aperture is illustrated as being rectangularly configured although other configurations are of course applicable.

An arcuately configured baffle member 18 is suitably secured to and provided in conjunction with the upper portion of the rear wall 20 of housing 12 and is seen to be disposed interiorly of housing 12 and opposite exhaust air inlet aperture 16 so as to deflect the exhaust air entering inlet 16 through 90 and conduct the same into the lower portion of the vertically extending exhaust shaft 22 defined by housing 12. The lower end of shaft 22 is open so as to define a vent outlet 24 for the exhaust air, the lower end of the shaft being adapted to be inserted through the flooring of the abode whereby the exhaust air may be vented therefrom without the need of securing the exhaust portion ofthe vent attachment to additional flue structure as is the case with conventional venting apparatus.

Due to the fact that the width w of the attachment is substantially greater than the thickness or depth 1, that is, approximately four or five times greater, the attachment also having a suitable height h which is dependent upon the vertical location of the appliance exhaust aperture relative to the floor, the attachment housing is quite compact and may readily be secured to the exterior surface of the rear wall portion of the dryer appliance without substantially adding to the depth of the overall assemblage. Furthermore, in this manner, the vent attachment of the present invention provides a vent exhaust shaft having an exhaust volume capacity equal to that of other conventional vent apparatus, yet nevertheless enables the appliance to be positioned relatively flush with respect to a particular room wall, either exterior or interior, inasmuch as the thickness or depth of the attachment may comprise only 1 or 2 inches and in addition, no auxiliary, horizontally ex tending flue attachments are required. As a result, useable space within the particular room within which the appliance is utilized is maximized.

In order to mount the attachment upon the rear wall of the appliance, laterally projecting flanged portions 26 are integrally provided in conjunction with the front surface 14 of the housing 12 and within the vicinity of aperture 16, a plurality of suitable fastening members, not shown, may be inserted therethrough. in addition. in order to prevent any leakage of the hot exhaust air into the living environment from any residual air space remaining between the front surface and flanged portions of the attachment and the exterior rear wall surface of the appliance, subsequent to assembly of the same, suitable gasket-type sealing means 28, for example, strips of polyurethane sponge or foam, may be seecured upon the front surface and flanged portions of the housing about the peripheral areas thereof serving to define aperture 16. in this manner, when the attachment 10 is fixedly secured to the rear wall of the appliance, the sealing strips 28 will be interposed between the attachment and the appliance rear wall and will experience compression along the longitudinal extents thereof as well as laterial expansion, whereby the hot air exhausted from the appliance will be confined solely within the vent attachment.

Thus, it may be seen that the clothes dryer vent attachment of the present invention has important advan tages over the known prior art structures in that the attachment may be particularly advantageous when sccured to clothes dryer appliances to be utilized within limited spacial environments, such as for example, mobile homes. As the housing configuration ofthe attachment is substantially flat wherein the width is several times greater than the depth, the attachment provides a venting shaft having an exhaust capacity equal to that of conventional venting apparatus, yet nevertheless enables the appliance assemblage to be positioned relatively flush with respect to room walls thereby maximizing the useable area remaining within the room within which the appliance is located.

in addition, as the exhaust outlet of the attachment is adapted to be inserted through the flooring of the residence, no auxiliary duct work or horizontally extending flue attachments are required, the obviation of such serving to conserve precious space within the limited spacial environment as well as permitting the appliance to be located within the residence at a position other than contiguous to an exterior wall. Still further, the configuration of the attachment is complementary to that of the appliance, such may be fixedly secured to the appliance at the factory without fear of the same being damaged during shipping to the distributors and consumers. In lieu of such, as the attachment may be quickly and simply secured to the appliance, the distributors or consumers may install the same themselves, either mode serving to substantially reduce installation fees,

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings, It is to be understood therefore that within the scope of the appended claims the present invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A clothes dryer vent attachment adapted to be mounted upon the rear wall surface of a clothes dryer appliance within a limited spacial environment, such as for example, a mobile home, comprising:

a clothes dryer appliance disposed within said mobile home.

elongate, substantially flat, hollow housing means for defining a vent shaft, the width of said housing means being several times greater than the depth of said housing means;

said housing means including uniplanar front and rear wall surfaces;

exhaust air inlet means defined within said front surface of said housing for receiving said exhaust air from said appliance which is exhausted through an exhaust air outlet defined within said rear wall surface of said appliance;

baffle means disposed interiorly of said housing and opposite said exhaust air inlet means for deflecting said exhaust air into said shaft.

means for securing said housing to said appliance in a vertically disposed fashion whereby said front surface of said housing will be flush with said rear wall surface of said appliance; and

exhaust air outlet means defined within the lower end portion of said shaft, said lower shaft portion being adapted to be inserted through the floor of said mobile home when said appliance and said attachment secured thereon are disposed near a particular wall of said mobile home.

said housing shaft thereby having an exhaust air volumetric capacity equal to that of conventional vent attachments yet permitting said appliance to be positioned relatively flush with respect to said particular wall of said mobile home.

2. A vent attachment as set forth in claim I, wherein said means for securing said housing to said appliance comprises flanged members integrally formed with said front surface of said housing.

3. A vent attachment as set forth in claim 1, and further comprising:

sealing means secured upon said means for securing said housing to said appliance and disposed about the periphery of said exhaust air inlet for preventing leakage of said exhaust air from said appliance into said environment.

4. A vent attachment as set forth in claim 3, wherein said sealing means comprises polyurethane foam strips.

5. A vent attachment as set forth in claim 1, wherein the cross-sectional configuration of said housing is rectangular.

6. A vent attachment as set forth in claim 1. wherein said baffle means is arcuately configured.

a a sa 

1. A clothes dryer vent attachment adapted to be mounted upon the rear wall surface of a clothes dryer appliance within a limited spacial environment, such as for example, a mobile home, comprising: a clothes dryer appliance disposed within said mobile home; elongate, substantially flat, hollow housing means for defining a vent shaft, the width of said housing means being several times greater than the depth of said housing means; said housing means including uniplanar front and rear wall surfaces; exhaust air inlet means defined within said front surface of said housing for receiving said exhaust air from said appliance which is exhausted through an exhaust air outlet defined within said rear wall surface of said appliance; baffle means disposed interiorly of said housing and opposite said exhaust air inlet means for deflecting said exhaust air into said shaft; means for securing said housing to said appliance in a vertically disposed fashion whereby said front surface of said housing will be flush with said rear wall surface of said appliance; and exhaust air outlet means defined within the lower end portion of said shaft, said lower shaft portion being adapted to be inserted through the floor of said mobile home when said appliance and said attachment secured thereon are disposed near a particular wall of said mobile home, said housing shaft thereby having an Exhaust air volumetric capacity equal to that of conventional vent attachments yet permitting said appliance to be positioned relatively flush with respect to said particular wall of said mobile home.
 2. A vent attachment as set forth in claim 1, wherein said means for securing said housing to said appliance comprises flanged members integrally formed with said front surface of said housing.
 3. A vent attachment as set forth in claim 1, and further comprising: sealing means secured upon said means for securing said housing to said appliance and disposed about the periphery of said exhaust air inlet for preventing leakage of said exhaust air from said appliance into said environment.
 4. A vent attachment as set forth in claim 3, wherein said sealing means comprises polyurethane foam strips.
 5. A vent attachment as set forth in claim 1, wherein the cross-sectional configuration of said housing is rectangular.
 6. A vent attachment as set forth in claim 1, wherein said baffle means is arcuately configured. 